John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site Closes Soon for 2024 Visitor Season

News Release Date:
October 18, 2024

Contact:Jason Atsales, 617-566-7937

Brookline, MA-John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site's 2024 visitor season will end on Sunday, October 27, 2024. Until then, the house will continue to be open for tours Thursday-Sunday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

On October 27 from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., the site invites fourth grade students to participate in the Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) program. They can take a tour, participate in the Junior Ranger program, and earn a free pass to national parks and federal recreational lands by completing a special activity. Learn more about the EKO program at www.everykidoutdoors.gov.

On Halloween, park staff will greet trick-or-treaters from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. with a Halloween packet. The packets will contain staff-created trading cards, focusing on the national park sites established during President Kennedy's time in office, and other goodies. The house will not be open for tours on Halloween.

During the off season (November through late-May,) tours can be arranged by appointment only with at least two weeks advance notice and are dependent on staff availability. For more information, please visit us online at www.nps.gov/jofi or call (617) 566-7937.

During the regular visitor season (late-May through late-October), guided house tours at John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS are offered Thursday through Sunday, beginning at 10:00 AM with the final tour at 3:30 PM. From 12:00-1:00 PM and 4:00-5:00PM, visitors are welcome to follow a self-guided audio tour voiced by the president's mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, through the house. Hand-held audio-players are available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Supplemental printed material about the house is available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. A ranger-guided virtual tour is also available. In addition, a self-guided neighborhood walking tour is available in our park brochure. When staffing and weather permit during the summer, ranger-led neighborhood walks are also offered. Virtual tours can always be accessed via the NPS App and via the web at https://jofi.stqry.app/1. Children of all ages can participate in the site's Junior Ranger program. Admission is free and available on a first-come first-served basis.

Sunday, October 27 marks the end of John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS's first full visitor season since 2019 and follows a period of renovations and accessibility updates. Among the newly completed renovations are a new visitor center with a wheelchair lift for access to the ground floor, an accessible restroom, and improved retail space. The renovations were scheduled to begin in early 2020 but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated complications, the work began in early 2022 and finished in late 2023. You can learn more about these updates via a staff-authored article available on our website: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/2024-jofi-reopening.htm

John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS preserves the birthplace (1917) and early boyhood home of the 35th president of the United States. The modest house was the first home shared by the president's parents, Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. John, the second of nine children, spent his formative years in Brookline as his family began its rise to national prominence.

In 1966, Mrs. Kennedy returned to 83 Beals Street to commemorate her son's life, restoring the birthplace to her recollection of its 1917 appearance. The historic house, collections, and neighboring Brookline community permit exploration of early influences that shaped the character and ambitions of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS is located just outside Coolidge Corner at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts. The site is a ½ mile-walk from the Coolidge Corner T-Stop (Green Line, C-Cleveland Circle). Free on-street parking is available on Beals Street for up to two (2) hours.

For more information please call (617) 566-7937 or visit www.nps.gov/jofi.

The public can also stay connected with the site through Facebook (www.facebook.com/JFKennedyNHS) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/JFKennedyNPS).

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